Chapter 16: Old and the new

  "Exosuit calibrated," a voice rang in his ears. The scene shifted and some text appeared:

[Equipping AlphaS6 Extensions…]

[Exosuit AlphaS6…]

  Before the text fully materialized, his vision turned static.

[Exosuit AlphaS6m Systems Initialized]

  Seeing this, Slava was surprised. How did Kolya get his hands on modified suits? And what was this place? Looking to his side, he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure being equipped with a similar model to his. Pillars around them released light mechanical extensions. Supported by electromagnetic distortions they softly floated towards them sticking to their slim bodysuits.

[Parameters Masked]

[Expance Connection Rerouted]

[Unofficial Patch Successful]

  "Kolya, what is this?" He heard an angry voice resound in his ear. He knew she'd get mad. This was basically contraband targeting her uncle's company.

  "I'm sure you'll understand," he said. "We can not risk any of what we are about to do to become public." Slava could only guess what Kolya had in mind. He knew that if the news of their Awakenings got out, it would only spell trouble. Especially for Sasha.

  Gritting her teeth she remained silent.

  "So what is this place exactly? And how'd you get access to all of this equipment?" Slava suddenly said, staring at the suited-up man standing in front of him. "BetaS4", he thought. Kolya never did fit into the Alpha suits, especially towards the end of his military career. Compared to his suit, Kolya's was much bulkier and looked heavier.

  "This is an old subway station. Before most of us moved underground, people would use these kinds of hubs to move around in trains through big cities. Now it's a relic of the past, abandoned at the edge of the residential area. We decided to refurbish it and since almost no one ever comes to the outskirts, we were able to use it as a passage to leave the city," as Kolya spoke, the platform they had stepped onto started moving. "As for the specifics and the other stuff you asked, I can't tell you yet. I hope you'll understand," his words were tinged with regret. When the end of the tunnel became visible, he spoke again.

  "Be prepared to jump," following his words, a countdown rang in their ears.

  "5, 4…" not too far in front of them, the ceiling began to open letting rays of sunlight hit the rails and walls.

  "3, 2…" the indicators in his vision turned green, and bending his knees, his suit morphed, a multitude of wing-like protrusions extending from it. Next to him, Sasha's suit did the same. Kolya's, however, seemed to be preparing to shoot a projectile.

  "1…", "Go!" Kolya shouted. Following his words, Slava and Sasha both jumped simultaneously, a projectile passing in between them. Passing by the many layers of mechanical doors, they finally reached the surface.

  Momentarily blinded by the light of the sun, Slava's eyes slowly adapted, as a barren landscape unraveled before him.

  He couldn't feel the heat because of the suit, but he could see it. The scorching heat of the desert, the water evaporating from the sand. It gave the scene a dreamlike feeling.

  When they landed, their wings retracted, reacting to their movements. Turning around, they were presented with a magnificent view.

  What began as a series of small oases quickly turned into a luscious forest full of hills and plains. At its heart was a huge metropolis. Buildings of all sizes connected in intricate ways surrounded by a body of water that seemed to be flowing from its center.

  Interrupting their admiration, the air between them was suddenly distorted and, from it, Kolya materialized. Kneeling, he picked up something from the ground.

  "I've sent you guys the coordinates, wanna race?" He said.

  "Wait, you also got access to the satellite grid?" Ignoring Sasha's comment and pensiveness, Slava answered enthusiastically: "Bet! But how is this fair? You got long-range thrusters and guided warping."

  "Oh shut up! You got two generations on me and you think I didn't over-tune the shit out of these models? I might not be an engineer but I got some friends and Alpha models are nothing to them." Hearing this, Slava looked down. Clenching his fists, some menus appeared in front of his eyes.

  Wingspan increased, space bending engine efficiency increased, stability thruster strength increased… Those were just the surface of the modifications that Slava could extract from the data. Kolya wasn't lying, this model was literally on steroids.

  "So, you down?" Said Kolya

  "Fuck Yeah!" He grinned. He couldn't stop his excitement from leaking into his voice. Crouching down he waited for Kolya's signal. Seeing him do the same, their wings deploying, he smirked.

  "Go!" He shouted.

  "Wait!" Ignoring Sasha's plea, they both dashed forward, leaving her in a cloud of sand. "Motherfuckers, why do I even hang out with these idiots."

  In the air, Slava was ecstatic. He hadn't flown one of those outside of the simulations since his military days and even then this wouldn't have been possible. AlphaS6… when he'd left, the fifth model had just been released. He couldn't believe he was using one. Sure, it was an outdated model, but to him, it was brand new.

  He was almost dancing through the sky. Every time his speed would drop, he would extend his hand towards a string in his vision. Pulling on it, his position would shift, accelerating him. He never really touched aerial models, but now that he did, he found it quite fun.

[Projectile Detected!]

[Executing Emergency Evading Maneuvers]

  When the message appeared in front of him, a multitude of strings shifted in his vision. Not getting much time to react he was shoved to the side by an invisible force.

  "Son of a bitch!" Hearing him, Kolya laughed.

  "Try not to fall behind too much!" Far in front of him, he could see his figure materializing behind the projectile, grabbing it out of the air.

Smirking, Slava glanced down. Seeing the sea of digital string in front of him, he flipped himself around, diving toward them. As he grew closer to the ground he extended his arm. Grasping a handful of strings, white sparks appeared around his eyes. Not noticing it, he spun his body, and right when he was about to hit the sand, he meticulously jerked them with both his hands. As a result, he shifted and his body that was inches from the floor was propelled back towards the sky.

  Soon enough, he caught up with Kolya.

  "Nice seems like you're getting the hang of this. The AI Protocol has been disabled in these suits so why don't you…" Kolya didn't get to finish his sentence when he was interrupted by Sasha zooming past them.

  "See ya nerds," her suit was pulsing with purple arcs. And from their perspective, it looked like she was blinking in and out of existence.

  "Always the fast learner," Kolya chuckled. Understanding what he had to do, Slava closed his eyes.

  From one to the next, he thought as white lightning began dancing around his suit. When he opened his eyes again, a familiar view presented itself to him. Unhesitatingly he dashed forward. Seeing this, Kolya sighed.

  "It took me a month to learn that." Letting himself fall onto the ground, he crouched. A red hue gradually surrounded him. His body began to swell and the already skintight suit began to strain. With the mechanical extensions morphing around his limbs, he grinned to himself.

  "Let's show these newbies how it's done!" Not looking back, he dashed forward.